Facebook to Launch New Tools on Messenger and Whatsapp Fake News #Article

As COVID-19 continues to do its harm across the globe, social media sites are filled with disinformation proposing remedies to signify false acts by government.

Facebook is home to a vast number of users worldwide and has been making attempts for quite a long time now to minimize disinformation on the web. And now that its messaging channels have become popular among the masses, they are being governed by no shortage of false information.

Facebook is exploring some new tools to curb the spread of false information about WhatsApp and Messenger amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facebook may, it is said, introduce a new feature that will allow WhatsApp users to search for more information about a message via an in-stream Google search prompt.

By contrasting it with information from credible Google studies, users can detect false information this way.

This new choice comes after the introduction of a WHO chatbot by WhatsApp which allows users to access official information. WhatsApp also has an information center for COVID-19 which gives users detailed details about the virus.

Mark Zuckerberg had noted earlier that traffic on both WhatsApp and Messenger was rising in the midst of the pandemic.

Besides WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger has seen a spike in misinformation and trying to counter this Facebook is trying to restrict how many group chats you can send a message to. This helps to reduce the spread of false news. This measure has been successful for WhatsApp and it can also produce beneficial results if it is applied to Facebook.

The effect of false information about the COVID-19 pandemic can be negative, with people providing advice that includes "walking out to clean themselves" or saying that "washing hands is propaganda only from soap companies."

It is important that people obtain reliable and timely information in order to be able to take better measures and reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

It is critical that Facebook makes efforts on this matter and restricts wherever possible the impact of false information.